''The Tip-Off'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Albert S. Rogell Albert S. Rogell (August 21, 1901 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - April 7, 1988 Los Angeles, California) was an American film director. Rogell directed more than a hundred movies between 1921 and 1958. He was the uncle of producer Sid Rogell. Filmogr ...

, written by

Earl Baldwin Earl Baldwin (January 11, 1901 in Newark, New Jersey – October 9, 1970 in Hollywood, California, age 69) was an American screenwriter. During his career he wrote more than 50 produced screenplays, including '' Wild Boys of the Road'', '' Br ...

, and starring

Eddie Quillan Edward Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s. Vaudeville and silent fi ...

, Robert Armstrong,

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Joan Peers Joan Peers (August 19, 1909 – July 11, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. She enjoyed a brief spell as a Hollywood star and is perhaps best known for her role in Rouben Mamoulian's burlesque-set melodrama ''Applause'' in 1929.Miln ...

and

Ralf Harolde Ralf Harolde (born Ralph Harold Wigger, May 17, 1899 – November 11, 1974) was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including '' Smart Money'' with Edward G. Robinson and ...

. The film was released on October 16, 1931, by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

Plot

Young Tommy Jordan (

) is sent for a repair job. When he arrives at the address he was told, two guys are waiting for him on the street, bringing him somewhere else - without letting him see where - to repair a radio. He jokes about "must be a hide-out, that I should not know where I am", for which he earns a "you're a smart guy". When left in the apartment doing his job, he follows a wire and ends up in the bedroom, lying on the floor under the bed. At this point, the telephone rings and a woman comes out of the bathroom and answers. He is trapped under the bed and can only see her legs. When the lady has finished her conversation, they have to talk and he is told that his great idol Kayo McClure (

Robert Armstrong (actor) Robert William ArmstrongThe reference book ''Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965'' gives Armstrong's birth name as Donald Robert Smith, as do the ''Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assume ...

) a fighter lives in that apartment. She herself is "famous" Babyface (

) the woman of McClure. When McClure comes back home, Tommy manages to hide and when Gang leader Nick Vatelli (

) appears in McClure's apartment with his men threatening him, Tommy acts as Policeofficers through the radio-microphone, so that they leave the flat. McClure is forever thankful to Tommy and he offers him to help him whenever he needs it. McClure hands him out a ticket to a ball. When he gets to the ball there is Baby-Face eager to dance with him. To avoid being mixed up too much with her attracting jealousy of McClure he grabs another girl, that was handy to him, to dance. But this girl is even worse, as she is the fiancé of Nick, Edna Moreno (

). Tommy is very fond of her and when Nick appears he finally takes Edna with him to McClure, to hide for a night. The next day Babyface argues with McClure about hiding the kids, threatening to leave him. Edna leaves the apartment without saying anything. Tommy finds out where she is, and with the help of McClure he saves her from marrying Nick. As the movie ends, Tommy and Edna get married.

Cast

as Thomas 'Tommy' Jordan * Robert Armstrong as Kayo McClure *

as Baby Face *

as Edna Moreno *

as Nick Vatelli *

Mike Donlin Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and actor. As a professional baseball player, his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National L ...

as Swanky Jones * Ernie Adams as Slug McGee *

Charles Sellon Charles A. Sellon (August 24, 1870 – June 26, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Sellon appeared in more than 100 films and stage acts between 1901 and 1935. He played the blind Mr. Muckle in W. C. Fields' comedy ''It's a Gift'' ...

as Pop Jackson *

Helen Ainsworth Helen Ainsworth (October 10, 1901 – August 18, 1961), also known as Cupid Ainsworth, was a stage and motion picture actress. She went to Hollywood in the 1920s as an agent, and she helped a number of actors attain stardom: Guy Madison, Marily ...

as Miss Ethel Waddums *

Luis Alberni Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films. Early years Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...

as Scarno - Roadhouse Manager (uncredited) * Harry Bowen as Dude - Vatelli Henchman (uncredited) *

Frank Darien Frank Darien (March 18, 1876 – October 20, 1955) was an American actor. He appeared in 225 films and between 1915 and 1951. Filmography References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darien, Frank 1876 births 1955 deaths American ...

as Edna's Uncle (uncredited) *

Dorothy Granger Dorothy Karolyn Granger (November 21, 1911 – January 4, 1995) was an American actress best known for her roles in short subject comedies in Hollywood. Career Granger, with her parents, two brothers, Richard and James, and their grandmot ...

as Hatcheck Girl (uncredited) *

Pat Harmon Plummer Hull Harman (February 3, 1886 – November 26, 1958), known professionally as Pat Harmon, was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1920 and 1947. In 1935, Harmon was the victim of a violent assault whic ...

as Vatelli Henchman (uncredited) *

Jack Herrick wikiHow is an online wiki-style publication featuring how-to articles on a variety of topics. Founded in 2005 by Internet entrepreneur Jack Herrick, its aim is to create an extensive database of instructional content, using the wiki model of ope ...

as Jack - Kayo's Sparring Partner (uncredited) *

Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...

as Henchman (uncredited) * Charles Sullivan as Chuck - Bouncer at Scarno's (uncredited) * Harry Wilson as Hood at Scarno's (uncredited)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tip-Off, The (film) 1931 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films RKO Pictures films Films directed by Albert S. Rogell American comedy films 1931 comedy films Films scored by Arthur Lange 1930s American films